Cholesterol breakthrough: Statins could also fight THIS deadly disease

CHOLESTEROL can cause heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, but may be lowered through statins. These drugs may also be used to fight infectious diseases, such as malaria and typhoid, according to new research.

Statins are a group of medicines known to lower LDL cholesterol - commonly known as “bad” cholesterol - in the blood.

This can prevent a number of conditions, including heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

However, they could also be used to fight infectious diseases too, according to new research.

A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that common cholesterol-lowering drugs - ezetimibe or Zetia - could treat conditions such as typhoid fever and malaria.

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Cholesterol news: Statins are a group of medicines that lower cholesterol in the blood

What's so exciting is that our study provides a blueprint for combining different techniques for understanding why some people are more susceptible to disease than others, and what can be done about it.

Dr Dennis Ko, Duke University

Researchers have discovered that a gene variant which affects cholesterol levels could also increase a person's risk of contracting typhoid fever.

They looked at the mechanisms which govern human susceptibility to infectious disease.

"This is just the first step. We need to try this approach in different model organisms, such as mice, and likely with different pathogens, before we can consider taking this into the clinic,” said senior study author Dr Dennis Ko, assistant professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University in the US.

"What's so exciting is that our study provides a blueprint for combining different techniques for understanding why some people are more susceptible to disease than others, and what can be done about it."

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